Charleston, South Carolina

My brother and his family recently relocated from Everett, Washington to Charleston, South Carolina.  We went took a car trip to visit them and spend General Conference weekend with them.  L enjoyed spending time with his cousins, especially this little girl.  She was so sweet and gave him space when he needed it.

This was the first time L ever played with a baby doll.  He is not interested in it as a baby but he did want to chew on that tag on the leg of the baby.  He is all boy!

L's other cousin was very content to build towers...look at that cute girl!

We went for a walk before conference...we were looking at the beautiful houses in the neighborhood.

We also found an alligator in a pond on the golf course.  This was my first live alligator in my life, but I did eat alligator year ago in Austin, Texas but of course it was dead and I didn't prepare the alligator.

I found a new toy that L really liked...plastic food.  Could it be because he is also teething?  Yes, he loved chewing on all the plastic food he could get his hands on.

We decided to play a game between conference sessions.  My sister-in-law was a good sport during this time because she played even with a migraine headache.

And that was our trip to S.C.  We will be doing it again and I'm so excited to have family near us!

Family Reunion last June

Cute family photo at the family reunion.  The baby was five months old exactly on this day.  My favorite part of the reunion this year was the 5K and fun run/walk at the beginning of the day.  Thanks to my sister-in-laws that let me run with them...especially since I slowed them down when I got a few side-aches. 

My family is so awesome and cute!  Check out these fun couples!

My fun nephew was jumping into the back of a lot of photos...I think it's called "photo bombing" and I laugh when I notice him in the background of my photos.

I had to show off the baby in this fun photo!

Grandpa took a quick catnap during the talking part of the reunion.

And here is baby R, the cousin closest in age to my baby.  I know that when they get a little older, they are going to have so much fun together.

Spending time with extended family

This summer we had a great time visiting with family and letting them play with baby L and get to know his little personality. 

Some of baby L's cousins are...crazy cute!

And of course we had to spend some time with Grandma!

Have you ever heard the story of Rose Red and Snow White?  These two sisters remind me a little bit of that fairy tale.

New Years Eve

We spent New Year's Eve at SM's brother's house.  We had a fun evening of games and food.  Several of us took short naps so that we could make it until midnight.

Some of the kids at the party!

Cute couple!

Brothers!

My sister-in-law put her hair in a mohawk just for me.  So, does that mean next year I wear the mohawk?  Maybe I'll just have my baby wear a mohawk!

Family Baby Shower

My mother-in-law and sister-in-laws threw me a baby shower over the holidays.  Yep, lots of baby showers.  Lots of people that love my baby.

My mother-in-law served hot chocolate with lots of accessories.  Look how beautiful the set up, ribbons on the glasses and  marshmallows on sticks.

This is the my family and I love them so much!

Here's the big happy bunch of us!

This onsie was handmade by one of my SIL.  Yep, this got the tears a flowing.  Thank you!

Christmas Day

Christmas morning presents...we didn't bring presents with us but we did buy a few things while we were visiting.  You'll notice that I forgot to bring Christmas stockings and so SM volunteered a pair of his exercise socks and we stuffed them full of fun Christmas treats.

Christmas afternoon two of SM's brother's and their families joined us for games and food.  Above is the kids play Just Dance 4 on the Wii.  They played together so well.

We start training the kids at a very young age.  They loved this game called Spot It where they had to look at their circle in front of them and then compare it to the circle in the center.  If they found something that matched the two circles, they shouted out the matched pair and whoever did that first, gained the circle card.  And whoever had the most cards at the end of the game...won.

And the guys played Race for the Galaxy...a game that us girls don't like to play very often.  There were other games played by all.

And back to the presents that I opened on Christmas morning...and don't forget my stocking (hee, hee).

SM's brother is counting up his points to see if he won.

 

Look how beautiful the snow is outside on Christmas morning.  What a wonderful day!

Christmas Eve Dinner

Christmas Eve Dinner is a family tradition.  The dinner is lit with candle light, we eat turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, sweet potato casserole, and some kinds of salads.  My sister-in-law and I made some fun table lanterns...and then I didn't get a photo of them.  I also forgot to pull out the camera and get photos of the dinner.  Oh well...maybe next year.  Above is a photo of cousins that are also friends.  They sure look alike in this photo!

After the very yummy dinner, we clear out the chairs and tables from the family room and gather as a family for a program.  My father-in-law puts the program together each year.  We usually read several Christmas stories, sing some Christmas hymns and share our thoughts or testimonies about Jesus Christ.

Sometimes it's hard to be the youngest family member.

And I know this is an awful photo but I wanted to share that my husband doesn't like to get his photo taken and he always tells me that he gets that from his mom.  What do you think?  Does he get it from his mom?  Perhaps...